THE race is on to save a Hampshire energy company with bags of potential from going to the wall with the loss of 40 jobs.

Bowman Power Systems is a world leader in small-scale systems for environmentally-friendly power generation systems, but vital funding has dried up.

It has been taken over by administrators keen to find a buyer as it shows so much promise.

Bowman researches, develops, makes and markets a range of combined heat and power systems that are secure, energy efficient and environmentally-friendly.

These are commonly installed on site for commercial and industrial uses, such as hospitals, schools, factories, council swimming pools and housing estates.

Venture capitalists supported the business with funding of more than £42m over nine years.

But after a failed acquisition last year they declined to fund the next stage of Bowman's development of cutting-edge micro turbine and electronics systems.

The business employs some 20 people at its offices at Ocean Quay in Southampton, and has offices in California and Japan and distributors across the globe.

A team from Hampshire corporate recovery specialists Fanshawe Lofts, headed by Antony Fanshawe, is currently working out a survival strategy.

He said: "This is a very distressing case of a manufacturing company with real potential which has foundered ten years to the day that initial talks were held with the venture capitalists.

"That said, the administration process allows us to keep the business alive while we look for a purchaser.

"We have already fielded strong interest from the UK and overseas, and I am confident that this is a business that will attract new investors. At this stage of its development, Bowman is very much a research and development operation with limited revenues. So it was reliant for its cash flow on funding from shareholders.

"Now that this has dried up we have had to take action to reduce the burn rate substantially. Part of this process is regrettably the loss of 20 jobs.

"This was a very difficult decision to take, but unfortunately it is a critical ingredient in our strategy to save the business and the remaining jobs."